M'kay, so, this is shorter than usual, and out of character and just generally bad, but I'm going to try to get the next chapter up tonight, and it's a lot longer.
I love all you guys that review, you're awesome!
At Anon.33: Yeah, I know they were OOC, but I couldn't figure out how else to write them. There didn't seem to be any right way. Hopefully they'll be better in the future, though Alec does become a bit Jace-ish. Though that becomes a big plot motivator later on, so…yeah.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Did anyone think I actually did?
Magnus knew he'd been had when he stepped out of the elevator and onto the pristine tile floor. Absently he wondered how long Isabelle and Jace had to scrub on their hands and knees to rid the place of blood. The thought made him smile.
Alec stood a few feet away, very much not covered in blood, looking completely fine except for his holey sweater and messy hair. But he always looked like that. He leaned against the wall, one white hand tapping against the paneling, the other cradling Isabelle's battered pink cell phone.
Magnus sighed but didn't make to leave. He just crossed his arms over his chest and waited.
"You came," Alec said after a moment. His voice was quiet but undeniably accusing. Magnus could see the antipathy battling with love in the boy's ice-blue eyes. It made his heart ache like a physical blow. Alec was too young to be so bitter. "I asked you to come if you still had feelings for me. And you came."
"Have you ever heard the story of the boy who cried wolf Alexander?" Magnus asked, keeping his voice came even while he longed to scream and cry and wrap the Shadowhunter in his arms. He couldn't. He wouldn't.
Alec shook his head.
"It's a horrible tale," Magnus said, focusing on keeping each breath shallow and even. He wouldn't show emotion. "Dull, unimaginative, wrapped in sugar and morals until mundane parents can look past the morbid qualities of it and read it to their children. Would you like to hear it?"
"I have a feeling you're going to tell me anyway."
Magnus nodded and attempted a sarcastic smile. It fell limp on his lips. "Quite right. So there was this boy—"
"A Shadowhunter?" Alec interrupted, toying with the phone, flipping it open. Open, close, open, close. It was awfully distracting.
"No," Magnus said, trying to look distant and remote. "A shepherd's son."
"It'd be better if he was a Shadowhunter," Alec muttered, and the façade slipped from Magnus' features.
"Oh for goodness sake, shut up," he snapped, annoyance flashing in his eyes. "Anyway, the boy was bored with his work, and decided to have some fun. So he ran around like a damn chicken with it's head cut off, screaming, 'Wolf! Wolf!' All the villagers rushed to help him, God knows why, he was obviously touched in the head, but there was no wolf. So all the villagers went back to their tasks, and the boy sat up on his hill laughing his ass off. But he got bored again. And so, once again, he started screaming, 'Wolf! Wolf!' The villagers came, but again, there was no wolf."
Alec looked like he was about to fall asleep. Boredom was written all over his face in clear bold strokes, with a hint of animosity in the set of his shoulders.
"Does this story have a point or do you just enjoy watching while I slowly drown in my own drool?" he asked, in a mocking drawl that sounded nothing like him.
"Jesus, you're starting to sound like Jace," Magnus said, and was reward with a flicker of surprise. "It's creepy. One day, the wolf does come. And the boy starts screaming, 'Wolf! Wolf!' But the villagers have had enough of being made fool of." The warlock leaned forward, as if he was telling a ghost story over a dying bonfire. The nearest lamp sputtered, light dancing over the angles of his face, only adding to the effect. "And they don't come."
Alec couldn't help it. He gulped. "What happens to the boy?" he asked.
And Magnus leaned back, the intimidating demeanor gone as quick as it had come. "The wolf eats him," he said with a nonchalant air, as if discussing nothing more important than the weather.
The pause stretched on, heavy, suffocating as a wet blanket, pressing down on both of them, prompting thoughts they didn't want to think about, and questions they didn't want to ask.
"Who's the wolf in this equation?" Alec said finally, quietly, as if afraid Magnus might strike out at him.
Magnus let out a sigh. Suddenly he looked tired and beaten. He looked every one of his nine hundred years, each decade carved into the lines of his frown. "There isn't one. But if you keep screaming that there is, eventually the villagers will stop coming."
"You won't stop," Alec said, a convicted edge to his voice that made Magnus' hopes drop to his mud-stained boots. He wasn't giving up like he was supposed to. "You're too afraid that I might be telling the truth."
"How sure are you?" Magnus asked, shifting closer instinctively, letting Alec see a hint of his darker side in his dangerous smile. It was something he needed to see. "Sure enough to risk it?"
Alec swallowed hard, his neck bulging around his Adam's apple. The same neck Magnus had once showered with kisses. He never would again. "You came today."
Magnus' voice was even, betraying nothing of the battle inside him. Only his hands—bunched into fists at his sides to stop them from reaching out—gave any hint that something was wrong. "There's nothing stopping me from leaving now and never coming back."
"Except for the fact that you still love me." The doubt in his eyes made Magnus want to cry.
"What gave you that idea?" he said, biting back tears.
"You told me." Alec was so quiet that even a few inches away from him, Magnus barely heard.
Magnus took a step forward. "I'm a warlock, a Downworlder. What makes you think I wasn't lying?"
"You're a terrible liar?" It was more a question than anything. Full of uncertainty and the possibility that it wasn't true.
"I'm a wonderful liar," Magnus spat, leaning forward so close he could've kissed him. It took all the self-control he possessed and more he hadn't known he had to stop him from doing so. "Ask me if I love you."
"Do you love me?" Alec blinked, his eyes watering painfully. All he could see was Magnus' eyes, two amber orbs that sparkled as the warlock breathed. Alec could see himself reflected in the cat-like pupils.
"With all my heart," he said, with such passion and certainty in his voice that Alec shivered. He was either a wonderful liar like he said, or he was telling the truth. But Alec couldn't tell.
He was so close. So close. And then he was gone, standing next to the elevator, his arms hanging limply at his sides and every emotion wiped clean from his face.
"Don't call me again," he said, pressing the button to call the elevator. It lit up with a ding, making the shadows flinch away. "Please. I don't deserve it—I deserve to wallow in self-hating misery for the rest of forever—but I have to ask. Please. Don't call."
"Magnus, wait," Alec called, unhitching himself from the wall and shoving Isabelle's phone into his pocket. "Talk to me. I called you here for a reason."
"What reason?" Magnus asked as he slid aside the grate and stepped into the elevator. Only his slim caramel hand stopped the door from closing. "Because you want me back?"
"Yes," Alec said, twining his fingers into the edge of the grate, his chewed-down nails scraping against the wrought iron. He considered jumping into the elevator, but something stopped him. Maybe it was the coldness icing over Magnus' stare. "I love you Magnus, I don't want to be without you. I want you back."
"No," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "You don't. Because deep down you know I'm right. That we can never be, and it's better for both of us if we don't try. It can't work. Do us both a favor Alexander, and let me go. Let the scars heal over your broken heart. Let yourself burn with resentment. Let yourself hate me." He smiled, but the smile was a thing of sadness and lament. "But don't let yourself love me."
His hand flashed back and the door clanged shut, the elevator ferrying away the warlock, leaving Alec and his tattered heart standing in the entryway.
Oh snap. Review! Please? Next chapter has a lot of Jace in it for all you fangirls (if you're there) and a glimpse of sarcastically awesome Magnus. Yay!